One of the mantra’s I always preached for my teams was the concept of 'Continuous Improvement'. The idea is simple and appealing: we constantly seek incremental enhancements to our processes, products, and services. This approach, popularized by Japanese manufacturing methodologies like Kaizen, promises steady progress through small, ongoing adjustments rather than dramatic overhauls.
However while reading the ‘Leadership is language’ by L. David Marquet, I started to wonder; what if this widely accepted wisdom is fundamentally flawed? What if true improvement doesn't actually happen continuously at all?
The stairway, not the ramp
In his book, David explains that improvement doesn't occur as a smooth, uninterrupted climb upward. Rather, it happens in distinct, intentional batches - like climbing stairs instead of walking up a ramp. This is what he calls "discontinuous improvement," and understanding this concept can transform how your team operates.
Real progress occurs when we separate our work into two distinct modes:
- Redwork: The periods of action and execution where we implement our plans, interact with the world and observe the results
- Bluework: The dedicated intervals for reflection, analysis, and planning improvements
By acknowledging this natural rhythm, we create space for both focused execution and meaningful improvement.
The problem with the "Good Idea Fairy"
David talks about how as managers we risk to become “good idea fairies’' by focusing too much on continuous improvement. This causes us to offer suggestions for improvement unexpectedly without much regard for how that improvement should be made to the ongoing process. For a team this is disturbing and can be perceived as indecision and lack of focus.
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It was a trap I have fallen in myself many times. As someone who likes to read a lot and having ‘Wonder’ as one of my Working geniuses, I always have new ideas that I want to apply. In all my excitement I feel the urge to immediately share these ideas with my team. But where I wanted to be helpful it, I understand now that I was interrupting the team and causing confusion.
Sorry team!
Discontinuous improvement
What I should have done was focus on discontinuous improvement by holding all my ideas in a backlog until the next period of bluework, then look at these ideas with the team, and let them decide which ones to move forward with.
The solution isn't to abandon improvement - it's to schedule it properly. Here's how to implement discontinuous improvement effectively:
- Control the clock: Clearly define when the current execution phase (redwork) will end
- Schedule the improvement session: Put the next reflection and planning session (bluework) on the calendar before you start executing
- Create a backlog: Capture new ideas as they come, but save them for the scheduled improvement session
- Complete the cycle: When the scheduled time arrives, celebrate progress, review what you've learned, and decide which improvements to implement next
This approach provides the psychological safety needed for teams to fully commit to execution, knowing that their observations and ideas will be heard at the appropriate time.
If this sounds really similar to a sprint retrospective in Scrum, that is indeed an implementation of this approach.
So, the next time you feel tempted to interrupt your team with a brilliant new idea mid-execution, remember: improvement happens best when it's scheduled, not when it's continuous. Hold that thought, add it to the backlog, and bring it up at your next planned improvement session.
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